Book I. SCURVY-GRASS, BURNET. 663 



turned on will circulate from dam to dam ; and the plants, if not allowed to run to flower, will afford 

 abundance of young tops in all but the winter months. A stream of water, noiarger than what will fill a 

 pipe of one inch bore, will, if not absorbed by the soil, suffice to irrigate in this way an eighth of an 

 acre. As some of the plants are apt to rot off in winter, the plantation should be laid dry two or three 

 times a-year, and all weeds and decayed parts removed, and vacancies filled up. Cress grown in this way, 

 however, is far inferior to that grown in a living stream flowing over gravel or chalk. 



4059. Taking the crop. The shoots are cut for market, not broken off, which is the usual mode of ga- 

 thering the wild cress, and which latter practice is found to be very injurious to the plants in the beds 

 (Hort. Trans, iv. 540.) 



Subsect. 13. Brook-lime. — Veronica beccabunga, L. (Eng. Bot. 655.) Diandria 

 Monogynia, L. and Scrophularince, B. P. Beccabongue, Fr. ; Bachbunge, Ger. ; and 

 Beccabungia, Ital. 



4060. The brook-l'une is a perennial plant, a native of Britain, and common in rivu- 

 lets and wet ditches. It has a trailing or procumbent stem, furnished with smooth, dark- 

 green, elliptical leaves, from the axilla? of which proceed bunches of blue flowers in July. 



4061. Use. The young tops and leaves are used as a salad, like the water-cress, with 

 which it is often mixed, being milder, more succulent, and only slightly bilterish in taste. 

 In Scotland the sprigs of brook-lime are brought to market under the name of water- 

 purpie, and sold along with wall-cresses (well, or water-cresses). 



4062. Culture. The same as for the water-cress. 



Subsect. 14. Garden-rocket. — Brassica Eruca, L. (Schk. Hand. 2. t. 186.) Tetrad. 

 Siliq. L. and Cruciferce. J. Boquette cidtivee, Fr. ; Raukette, Ger. ; and Ruca, Ital. 



4063. The garden-rocket is an annual plant, a native of Austria, and known in this 

 country in 1573. The stem rises two feet high, is upright and branchy, and furnished 

 with smooth, pulpy, cut and toothed leaves. When in flower in July, it has a strong pe- 

 culiar smell, almost fetid. This plant is now neglected in Britain, but is still in use in 

 several places on the continent. 



4064. Use. The leaves and tender stalks are used as salad ingredients, and form an 

 agreeable addition to cresses and mustard early in spring. 



4065. Culture. Sow in a warm border early in February, and again in March and April for successive 

 crops. Thin the plants after they have produced the first rough leaf to three or four inches asunder, and 

 keep them clear of weeds, if a supply is desired throughout the year, monthly sowings may be made j and 

 in autumn, under frames. 



4066. To save seed. Allow a few of the strongest plants of the spring sowing to come into flower ; they 

 will produce abundance of seeds in August. 



Subsect. 15. Scurvy-grass. — Cochlearia officinalis. L. (Eng. Bot. 550.) Tetra- 

 dynamia Siliculosa, L. and Cruciferce, J. Cranson officinal, Fr. ; Lqffelkraut, Ger. ; 

 and Coclearia, Ital. 



4067. The scurvy-grass is a biennial plant, indigenous to most of our sea-shores, and, 

 like the sea-pink (Statice), growing also on inland mountains. The root-leaves are 

 round ; those of the stem sinuated ; the whole plant is low and spreading, seldom rising 

 above a foot. The flowers are white, and appear in April and May. 



4068. Use. The smaller leaves are occasionally used like the water-cress, and some- 

 times eaten between slices of bread and butter. The plant is also occasionally used me- 

 dicinally. , 



4069. Varieties. A thick-leaved variety, called the Dutch scurvy-grass, is cultivated 

 in some gardens. 



4070. Culture. The plant may either be propagated from seed, or by dividing the roots. It delights in a 

 sandy soil and a moist atmosphere, which it finds alike by the sea-shore and on lofty mountains. It will 

 grow, however, almost any where, and is often found firmly established on old walls and ruins, sowing 

 itself, and thus remaining many years. When to be raised from seed, sow about July. Plants from a 

 spring sowing seldom prosper. Abercrombie says, " Sow in drills eight inches apart; and when the 

 plants are up, thin them to six inches' distance ; these thinned out, may be transplanted into new beds. In 

 the following spring, the succulent leaves will be fit for use. 



4071. To save seed. Leave some plants in flower in May, and they will ripen abundance of seed in July. 



Subsect. 16. Burnet. — Poterium Sanguisorba, L. (Eng. Bot. t, 860.) Moncec. Po- 

 lyan. L. and Rosacea, J. Petite Pimprcnelle, Fr. ; Pimpernelle, Ger. ; and Pim- 

 pinella, Ital. 



4072. The burnet is a hardy perennial plant, indigenous in Britain, and found in dry 

 upland calcareous soils. The leaves are pinnated, and form a tuft next to the root ; but 

 are alternate on the stem : the leaflets are partly round-shaped, partly pointed, and much 

 serrated on the edges. The stem rises fifteen inches high, and the flowers form small 

 greenish heads tinged with purple in July. 



4073. Use. Burnet-leaves are sometimes put into salads, and occasionally into soups, 

 and they form a favorite herb for cool tankards. When slightly bruised, they smell 

 like cucumber, and they have a somewhat warm taste. They continue green through the 

 winter, when many other salad-plants are cut off, or in a state unfit for use. It was for- 

 merly in much greater repute than at present. 



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